Maddie didn’t want to be relieved, but the more time she spent with him, the more she wished she could keep him forever. She’d never known a man so thoughtful and caring and sincere. Add that he was sexy as hell and he become one heck of an irresistible package. During their lovely day together, she’d begun to feel like a fool for resisting him. Maybe she should give in and have a rip-roaring affair with him. The whole town thought she already was, so why not go for it? At least then, after he went home to Miami, she’d have the memories to sustain her. But what would sustain her heart if she gave even a portion of it to him?

Too late, the devil on her left shoulder said. You already have.

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Tucked into his stroller, Thomas slept on the ferry ride back to Gansett. Sleepy herself after the nicest day she’d had in years, Maddie let her head drop to Mac’s shoulder. He put his arm around her and settled her against his chest. Maddie was letting her eyes drift shut when they connected with a familiar face on the other side of the ferry.

He smiled at her.

Maddie gasped.

“What, honey?” Mac asked.

“Oh my God,” she whispered. “Thomas’s father.” Automatically, she brought the stroller closer to her.

As the tall, dark-haired man approached them, Maddie straightened, and her heart began to hammer in her chest. She noticed he had more gray in his hair than the last time she’d seen him, but otherwise he hadn’t changed.

Mac tightened his arm around her.

“I thought that was you, Maddie. How are you?”

Momentarily paralyzed, she couldn’t form a rational thought. “I’m. . . ah. . . I’m good.”

He glanced at Mac, and Maddie remembered her manners. “Tom Wilkinson, this is, um—”

Mac extended his right hand. “Mac McCarthy, Maddie’s husband.” He gestured to the stroller. “Our son Garrett. Nice to meet you.”

Twisting her head, Maddie stared at Mac, but he just gave her a bland look that said, “Roll with it.”

“You’re married,” Tom said with the charming smile that had convinced her to part with her virginity—not that he ever figured that out. “Well, that’s disappointing.”

“Excuse me?” Maddie asked in a strangled tone.

“I was on my way to see you.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, my bad,” he said with what seemed like genuine regret. “I guess I waited too long.”

“Maddie’s not the kind of girl you let get away,” Mac said.

Maddie’s breath got caught in her throat when Tom leaned over to peek in at Thomas.

“Beautiful baby.”

“Thanks,” Mac said. “We like him.”

Good answer, Maddie thought, grateful that he could speak, since she was incapable at the moment. Her heart beat so fast she wondered if it would explode in her chest.

“You’re a lucky man,” Tom said to Mac.